Legislative Leaders Share Priorities For last Few Weeks Of Year

Lawmakers return to Lansing next week. There are three scheduled weeks of session before the end of the year, and Legislative leaders are hoping to make the best of it.

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Bills that have been introduced this year won’t “die” on December 31st. But all the seats in the House will be up for election in 2020, which means getting things done in Lansing will likely give way…at least a little bit… to election season.

A priority for Republicans and Democrats is legislation involving gambling. The package of bills would legalize sports betting and online gaming – among other things.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) had initial reservations about the bills, but now he’s interested in moving them.

“I’ve moved my position a little bit on it, but there’s still some details that need to be worked out,” he told reporters.

A Senate committee is scheduled to discuss the package of bills the first week lawmakers return.

The state Legislature has spent a good portion of 2019 working on changes to Michigan’s criminal justice system. Now some lawmakers are hoping they will keep the trend going – and finish up some of the work they’ve started before the end of the year.

Representative Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills) is the leader of the Democrats in the state House. She hopes bills that would allow for more people to get certain crimes taken off of their records will be sent to the governor’s desk before New Years.

“It just says that you believe in people and that you believe in second chances,” Greig said in an interview. “And you believe that people can redeem themselves and be productive members of society.”

The bills would add new types of crimes to what can be eligible for expungement. And they would increase the number of certain crimes that can be expunged. Certain crimes would also be automatically expunged after ten years for a felony and seven years for a misdemeanor.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint) has his eye on passing a bill that hits close to home. He would like to pass one of his bills related to the Flint water crisis. The bill would extend the amount of time the government has to file a case for the crime of misconduct of a public official. Ananich said he’s been talking to Whitmer and other leaders about getting it passed before the end of the year.

“Just so I can give the residents of Flint, and really the taxpayers of the state, some assurances that people are going to be held accountable,” he said.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and four legislative leaders have met after she vetoed nearly $1 billion from the newly signed budget, but their discussion was mainly focused on policies such as criminal justice.